Global economic depression. Dropping energy prices. Increased international competition. The past year has challenging for the greentech sector, but smart money, clever business innovations, and government support have pushed the industry along and identified winning strategies.

As the industry grows and matures, narrowing down the top 100 greentech companies becomes an increasing challenge. Industries that were seldom looked at in Silicon Valley are now getting a green facelift, reinvesting in cleaner and more efficient systems.

This year's GoingGreen Silicon Valley 100 Top Private Companies list is characterized by companies weathering stormy economic weather through innovative business models, multinational partnerships, and creative use of government incentives. Adhering to the usual criteria, our judges evaluated hundreds of companies, assessing the breakthrough potential of their technologies, market size, management team, and investors. In many cases, we selected mature companies, but for the overall winner, we chose the energy-efficiency customer-engagement experts OPOWER, a young company with a proven business model, a seasoned management team, and a long list of premier clients.

In the RESOURCE RECOVERY AND WASTE MANAGEMENT category, RecycleBank shows creative problem-solving by encouraging consumers to recycle by giving them everyday rewards for travel, shopping, and more. Similarly, Glacier Bay takes a low-tech approach in the ENERGY STORAGE category with its ClimaCab APU product that recharges ACs in freight trucks overnight with batteries instead of diesel fuel. In the business of virtualized computing and winning the DATA CENTER EFFICIENCY category, MokaFive provides a wide array of non-energy benefits to its customers by moving processing and storage to an optimal centralized location.

SolarCity, our winner in the SOLAR ENERGY category, leverages existing solar technology, financing from large banks, and existing rooftop space to provide attractive solar installations with little upfront cost. The company is also beginning to offer an integrated solar and building energy efficiency service with its recent acquisition of Building Solutions.

Also offering bundled services and our GREEN MATERIALS AND GREEN BUILDING winner, Serious Materials bundles its green building materials with an energy management and commissioning service to maximize and maintain energy savings in commercial buildings.

In the realm of those who have excelled with the help of strategic partnerships, Better Place leads our GREEN AUTOMOBILES AND TRANSPORTATION category with its EV-charging infrastructure. It has partnerships across the world, from Renault-Nissan and GE to the leading financial institutions and forward-thinking governments.

Silver Spring Networks also heavily leverages a strong network of partners and wins the ENERGY MANAGEMENT, SMART GRID, AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY category, providing the hardware, software, and services that connect every device on the smart grid. Amyris, our BIOTECH, BIOFUEL, AND AGRICULTURE winner, leverages partners for biofuel production both in the U.S. and in the emerging market in Brazil.

Lastly, innovative companies like BioPetroClean deliver ecological solutions for industrial wastewater using bacteria, this year's WATER TECHNOLOGY AND TREATMENT category winner. Our winner in the CLEAN ENERGY category is Accelergy, which has a technology that turns coal into clean liquid fuel.

The amazing thing about this year's GGSV100 is that it is just a small sampling of the talent and enthusiasm in the greentech industry. Many more unmentioned companies-some now large, publicly traded entities and others that are still in a garage laboratory-are changing the world we live in by constantly asking how things can be done better, faster, cheaper, and cleaner. Congratulations to this year's winners and the rest of the green innovators, who keep on questioning assumptions and creating new solutions for tomorrow.
Weston McBride is AlwaysOn's greentech editor.

 

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The winners of this competition will be officially honored at:

GoingGreen Silicon Valley 2010
Where Green Entrepreneurs Take on Big Business
October 12th - 14th, 2010
The Presidio's Golden Gate Club
San Francisco, CA

Click here to see current program, reserve your ticket, or learn more about GoingGreen Silicon Valley 2010.

For information on the CEO Showcase opportunity, please contact Marc Sternberg at 310.403.3330 or e-mail him at marc@alwayson-network.com.

For more information on group rates or to make reservations by phone, please contact the AlwaysOn Concierge, John Schwartz, at 310.721.9451 or by e-mail at john@aonetwork.com.

Now is the time to get on board. Whether you are looking for new investments, strategic partners, or clients in greentech, GoingGreen is the insider event you won't want to miss. We hope to see you there!

The conference is only a few weeks away. Register today to secure your 25% savings.

Introducing the GoingGreen Silicon Valley 100:

Overall Winner

OPOWER
www.opower.com
Category: Energy Management, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency
Headquarters: Arlington, VA
CEO: Daniel Yates
Year Founded: 2007
Employees: ca. 100
Investors Include: MHS Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates

Biotech, Biofuel, and Agriculture

Category winner
Amyris
Emeryville, CA
www.amyrisbiotech.com

Chemrec
Stockholm, Sweden
www.chemrec.se

Cobalt Technologies
Mountain View, CA
www.cobalttech.com

CoolPlanetBioFuels
Camarillo, CA
www.coolplanetbiofuels.com

Coskata
Warrenville, IL
www.coskata.com

EdeniQ
Visalia, CA
www.edeniq.com

Genomatica
San Diego, CA
www.genomatica.com

Gevo
Pasadena, CA
www.gevo.com

LS9
South San Francisco, CA
www.ls9.com

Mendel Biotechnologies
Hayward, CA
www.mendelbio.com

OPX Biotechnologies
Boulder, CO
www.opxbiotechnologies.com

Sapphire Energy
San Diego, CA
www.sapphireenergy.com

Solazyme
South San Francisco, CA
www.solazyme.com

Synthetic Genomics
La Jolla, CA
www.syntheticgenomics.com

ZeaChem
Lakewood, CO
www.zeachem.com

Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel)

Category winner
Accelergy
Houston, TX
www.accelergy.com

AltaRock Energy
Sausalito, CA
www.altarockenergy.com

Bloom Energy
Sunnyvale, CA
www.bloomenergy.com

CoaLogix
Charlotte, NC
www.coalogix.com

FloDesign
Wilbraham, MA
www.flodesign.org

GreatPoint Energy
Cambridge, MA
www.greatpointenergy.com

Luca Technologies
Golden, CO
www.lucatechnologies.com

Potter Drilling
Redwood City, CA
www.potterdrilling.com

Sierra Energy
Davis, CA
www.sierraenergy.net

Ze-gen
Boston, MA
www.ze-gen.com

Data Center Efficiency

Category winner
MokaFive
Redwood City, CA
www.mokafive.com

nlyte
Menlo Park, CA
www.nlyte.com

Power Assure
Santa Clara, CA
www.powerassure.com

Viridity Energy
Conshohocken, PA
viridityenergy.com

Energy Management, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency

Adura Technologies
San Francisco, CA
www.aduratech.com

AlertMe
Cambridge, U.K,
www.alertme.com

Array Converter
Cupertino, CA
www.arrayconverter.com

BPL Global
Cranberry Township, PA
www.bplglobal.net

Bridgelux
Sunnyvale, CA
www.bridgelux.com

EcoFactor
Redwood City, CA
www.ecofactor.com

eMeter
San Mateo, CA
www.emeter.com

ENXSuite
San Bruno, CA
www.enxsuite.com

Federspiel Controls
El Cerrito, CA
www.federspielcontrols.com

Grid Net
San Francisco, CA
grid-net.com

Hara Software
Redwood City, CA
www.hara.com

Illumitex
Austin, TX
www.illumitex.com

Landis+Gyr
Zug, Switzerland
www.landisgyr.com

Recurve
San Francisco, CA
www.recurve.com

Scientific Conservation
Berkeley, CA
www.scientificconservation.com

Category winner
Silver Spring Network
Redwood City, CA
silverspringnetworks.com

SmartSynch
Jackson, MS
www.smartsynch.com

SynapSense
Folsom, CA
www.synapsense.com

Tendril Networks
Boulder, CO
www.tendrilinc.com

Trilliant
Redwood City, CA
www.trilliantinc.com

Verdiem
Seattle, WA
www.verdiem.com

WiTricity
Watertown, MA
www.witricity.com

Energy Storage Systems

Amprius
Menlo Park, CA
www.amprius.com

Deeya Energy
Fremont, CA
www.deeyaenergy.com

EnerVault
Sunnyvale, CA
www.enervault.com

EnStorage
Zichron Yaakov, Israel
enstorageinc.com

Category winner
Glacier Bay
Union City, CA
www.glacierbaytechnology.com

Ice Energy
Winsor, CO
www.ice-energy.com

Leyden Energy
Fremont, CA
www.leydenenergy.com

Porous Power Technologies
Lafayette, CO
www.porouspower.com

Premium Power
North Reading, MA
www.premiumpower.com

Sakti3
Ann Arbor, MI
www.sakti3.com

Seeo
Los Altos, CA
www.seeo.com

Simbol Mining
Houston, TX
www.simbolmining.com

Green Automobiles and Transportation

Achates Power
San Diego, CA
www.achatespower.com

Category winner
Better Place
Palo Alto, CA
www.betterplace.com

CODA Automotive
Santa Monica, CA
www.codaautomotive.com

Coulomb Technologies
Campbell, CA
www.coulombtech.com

Fisker Automotive
Irvine, CA
www.fiskerautomotive.com

Green Materials and Green Building

Calera
Los Gatos, CA
www.calera.biz

CalStar Products
Newark, CA
calstarproducts.com

Lunera
Redwood City, CA
www.lunera.com

Category winner
Serious Materials
Sunnyvale, CA
www.seriousmaterials.com

Soladigm
Santa Rosa, CA
soladigm.com

Resource Recovery and Waste Management

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies
Vancouver, BC, Canada
www.ostara.com

Category winner
RecycleBank
New York, NY
www.recyclebank.com

Solar Energy

Abound Solar
Fort Collins, CO
www.abound.com

Agile Energy
San Bruno, CA
www.agileenergy.com

Bloo Solar
Sacramento, CA
www.bloosolar.com

BrightSource Energy
Oakland, CA
www.brightsourceenergy.com

eIQ Energy
San Jose, CA
eiqenergy.com

Enphase Energy
Petaluma, CA
www.enphaseenergy.com

eSolar
Burbank, CA
www.esolar.com

Flexcell International
Hillsborough, NC
www.flexcellint.com

HelioPower
Murietta, CA
www.heliopower.com

Miasolé
Santa Clara, CA
www.miasole.com

Nanosolar
San Jose, CA
www.nanosolar.com

Category winner
SolarCity
Foster City, CA
www.solarcity.com

Solaria
Fremont, CA
www.solaria.com

Solexant
San Jose, CA
www.solexant.com

Sopogy
Honolulu, HI
sopogy.com

Stion
San Jose, CA
www.stion.com

Suniva
Norcross, GA
www.suniva.com

SunRun
San Francisco, CA
www.sunrunhome.com

Tioga Energy
San Mateo, CA
www.tiogaenergy.com

Wilson TurboPower
Woburn, MA
www.wilsonturbopower.com

Water Technology and Treatment

AquaCritox
Cork, Eire
www.scfi.eu/aquacritox.html

Category winner
BioPetroClean
Tel Aviv, Israel
www.biopetroclean.com

Epuramat
Redwood City, CA
www.epuramat.com

Oasys Water
Cambridge, MA
www.oasyswater.com

PMC BioTec
Exton, PA
www.pmcbiotec.com